Joe frowned and bent down to pick up a few of the strange stones. They pulsed rapidly in his hand, but didn't seem to do much else. Even so, there was something not right about them…
Polly stepped forward cautiously, her eyes fixed on the blue jewels, her head cocked and her mouth slightly open.
Joe yelled and dropped them, jumping back away from the four motionless stones, now resting on the stone floor.
"What is it!" Polly asked, clearly alarmed, as Franky moved forward to inspect Joe's palm.
Joe scowled down at the stones, puzzled.
"They shocked me," he said matter-of-factly, picking all four up again.
Polly looked at them, her face stern.
"Put those down Joe, we don't know what they are," she told him flatly.
Joe looked as though he didn't hear.
"Put them down Joe," Polly repeated, her voice growing frantic.
Joe looked up, breaking his trance.
"Fine." He said, arrogantly, as he dropped them onto the pile, their impacts causing three high tones to echo throughout the room.
"Alright, let's be off then," Franky said as she set off down another tunnel.
The two followed, unsure of what was to come.
At the end of the tunnel was a control room. Television screens glowed from their places along the various panels, and buttons of all different colors illuminated themselves from the board.
Joe stepped over to a screen and saw the area above with the strange posts. On another screen, a single post could be seen, its metallic surface reflecting the glow of the waning moon. A strangely-textured area, no more than two inches wide could be seen on the side of the post from the screen, as Joe leaned closer, he could see that it was a small recorder; he guessed that it would immediately transmit any sound made above down to the control room. While Joe was watching the screen, an unfamiliar voice, laced with malice, rang throughout the small room.
"So Sullivan, I see you have made it this far."
Joe, Polly, and Franky looked up to the ceiling, where the voice seemed to be coming from. On the far side of the room, in the corner, was a small speaker. Joe scoffed as he saw it and walked over to it to stand below.
"Come out and face us like a man, Spoletta. Or are you afraid that after massacring your entire sprit-army, you would be no match for us?" Joe asked hotly, looking up at the speaker.
A cold laugh vibrated uncomfortably throughout the room, making Polly shudder.
"My entire army?" The voice asked amused. "I think not."
Joe scowled.
"Where are you keeping the rest of those damned things?" He asked.
Spoletta chuckled.
"Do you mean to tell me that you did not see them renew themselves? Did you not notice the holes they made disappear? They are merely recuperating. You see, as long as I live, they live. I presume that you also passed through the Intelligence Room, did you not? Those precious gems you saw, I do hope that you did not think to take any, for they are not what you think, they hold all the knowledge in the world; enough to destroy any living thing, or any thing at all really, apart from your new acquaintances, my spirit army. If you were to come in contact with one, it would take no more that ten seconds for the effects to set in, and unless contact is broken, the being will perish within the minute."
"What are your intentions?" Joe spat.
"Oh my dear Mr. Sullivan, I want what anyone wants: power. When my spirit army demolishes all we know of the human race, I will rule them, and be ruler, the most powerful of all on Earth; the ruler of a perfect race. And none will think to turn against me, for without me, they do not live."
Polly's eyes traveled down as she spotted Joe clenching his pocket from the outside. Her eyes widened as she realized that it was glowing faintly blue. Quickly, her eyes snapped back up to the speaker.
"I shall request it of you again," Joe began, "come out and face us."
A mocking laugh rang throughout the room.
"Face you?" Spoletta asked, his voice coming from the tunnel they had just come from. "I do believe I am."
The three whipped around to face the owner of the voice. He was not human, or at least not any longer. It hurt to look at him, and his outline blurred along the edges. Apart from his strange attributes, he had a fairly normal human figure, and looked to be in his late thirties. He stepped from the tunnel, his figure still blurry, and began to circle the small group.
"Who, or what are you?" Asked Polly.
Spoletta nodded thoughtfully.
"Seeing as you three aren't going to be around much longer, I believe I will answer a few of your questions. Doctor Robert Sparks, now known as Spoletta; died five years ago while performing an experiment. Thanks to its effects, I was still able to live on, though only in this form, which is part holographic, but also part of who I used to be, and, in fact, solid. I was able to keep my knowledge, and live in this form. Though the accident took place, the experiment still worked and I was able to create a nearly indestructible army, the only way for them to be killed, is for me to be killed, for they are a part of me."
As he finished, Joe lifted his hand, with the intelligence gem in it. He hurled it at the man's figure, where it became lodged in his chest.
Spoletta sputtered, his eyes growing wide. His figure began to spark, and in a whirl of light, screams, and chaos, he was gone, the only remaining evidence of him was a blue burn mark, seared into the floor in the form of a flaming tree.
A/N: It's nearly over, I think all that's left will be an epilogue tear. I am really sorry that it took almost twice as long as usual to update…I've been very busy. I am altogether too lazy at the moment to do reviewer responses, but thanks to Fox Bourne and freakinred, I love you guys! Till the next update,
Possum
